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Earlier this month, the most successful basketball coach in Canadian history, Jay Triano, said it’s about time more of his ilk get some credit for helping to develop the burgeoning pipeline of talent in this country.

Slowly but surely, the basketball world appears to be clueing in. Jama Mahlalela, a former Oakwood Collegiate and UBC Thunderbirds star, is a long-time Raptors employee, about to spend his second season on the bench as an assistant to Dwane Casey. Toronto’s Jamaal Magloire is in player development with his hometown franchise.

Ryerson head coach Roy Rana has coached the likes of Dante Exum and Andrew Wiggins on international all-star teams at various prestigious tournaments and has spent time as a guest coach with the Raptors and Utah Jazz, while Scott Morrison just went on leave from his post as Lakehead bench boss to take a job with the Boston Celtics-affiliated Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League.

Dozens of Canadian coaches are on hand at Ryerson this week learning at coaching clinics from NBAers like Mahlalela and long-time Raptors assistant Eric Hughes — who both worked closely with DeMar DeRozan over the years, helping him eventually become an all-star.

Mahlalela, who says: “When I first started with the Raptors about 11 years ago, I was the guy who filled the Gatorade jugs,” is happy to offer up things he has picked up over the years from the likes of Casey, Sam Mitchell and Triano.

“I just got to speak with the group (of coaches) and it’s just really special because I was sitting in that chair years ago — last year almost,” Mahlalela told a few reporters on Tuesday.

“Everyone that’s been (with the Raptors) I’ve learned from and benefited from. For me, it’s how can I then give that back? How can I help another coach along the way to improve their skills. A lot of it is opportunities. Getting to know people. Now I have connections with the rest of the NBA, the other 30 teams, so how can I get Roy Rana or whoever to know those people as well, so we can all kind of climb up together.”

Mahlalela has been around a long time and seen the game from many angles — he’s been the director of basketball operations for NBA Asia, run various camps, been an assistant at UBC and done everything under the sun in Toronto — and is a firm believer that Canadian coaches have what it takes to work alongside the largely American crop at the highest levels.

“I think it’s proof in the pudding that we’re coming. Canada is definitely coming. You see that in our players now, you see it with draft selections, it’s there and now you start to see it with coaches being assigned to teams,” he said.

“It’s proof what Canada Basketball’s been doing, here, what Ontario Basketball’s been doing, is starting to really pay specific dividends.”

TOUR DID THE TRICK

Triano’s senior men went 5-6 in the recent tour of Europe and Triano says goals were met.

“We beat three teams that are going to the World Cup of Basketball and we were competitive in every game,” Triano said.

“When we played Spain, it was our sixth game in six days in three different countries and we played them to a 12-point game ... We beat Turkey (a medal contender in recent years) and we beat Angola, the African champion. I can see progression for our team ... we wanted to make it tough for our players and we wanted them to play and learn the international game, so I think we got all of those things accomplished.”

THE BLUEPRINT

The hiring of Brandon Pridham by the Maple Leafs Tuesday followed a blueprint MLSE has been pursuing. Pridham formerly worked on the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement (along with other duties) while working for the league, as did Toronto FC general manager Tim Bezbatchenko, who handled all Major League Soccer player contracts for three years. Raptors vice-president of basketball management and strategy Bobby Webster came aboard a year ago after seven seasons with the NBA, where he helped write the latest CBA.

With every team in pro sports looking for any edge it can get, it makes a heck of a lot of sense for uber-rich MLSE to go to the source and nab these guys. Few know more about CBA’s and salary cap rules than this group.